While the Barrow County Airport Authority is reportedly asking one airport tenant to pay $9,000 more per month to keep his lease, members of the authority agreed to grant another tenant a lease discount at the authority’s Sept. 21 meeting.

In a letter given to each authority member, Romanair owner and operator Robert Mancini said he was told by letter that his firm would have to pay $9,000 more per month for his lease.

“(We were) given a letter signed by chairman Frank Nocera requesting we pay $11,489 per month for our lease extension,” Mancini said. “This would be a $9,000 a month increase. This is completely absurd and impossible. With the economic conditions the way they are and the services we provide, we feel the lease should remain the same for the next five years.

Romanair presently pays approximately $2,200 per month.

According to the letter, Mancini “has requested several times over the last eight months for the authority to create a committee to meet and discuss” the “court ordered five year extension” of Romanair’s lease.

“To this date there has been no discussion with any committee (no committee has ever been formed)” Mancini said, closing the letter with a request for the authority to notify him of “your intentions as soon as possible.”

Citing “over 25 years” in business at the airport, Mancini’s states Romanair’s lease requires maintenance, fuel service and tie down.

“We have also provided…flight training, pilot services, air charter, air ambulance, aircraft sales and pilot supplies...and kept our prices extremely competitive…” he said. “There is not another company on the airport that has (as) much responsibility and obligation (as Romanair)…We have generated more activity and income for the airport than any other business at the airport”…and have “always operated in good faith and in the airport’s best interest.”

In response to Mancini, Nocera said he wanted to “resolve this as soon as possible.” He then agreed to “touch base on Monday (September 27) morning” to set up a committee meeting time.

When Mancini asked about appointing a committee to discuss the matter, Nocera said, “We’ve had a committee all along,” adding that vice-chairman Scott Miller, Don Holiday and himself are the members.

Upon being reminded by authority attorney John Stell that a committee meeting would have to be posted as a public meeting, Nocera agreed to publicize the date and time of the meeting, then invited all authority members to attend.

DELI LEASE
A new lease agreement with Celia and Ian Lockwood, owners of The Spitfire Deli, located for the past six years in the airport office building, was also discussed. According to Holiday, who at Nocera’s request had been talking with the Lockwoods, said initially the deli rent was $600 plus utilities per month. But as the economy crumbled and airport traffic took a down turn, a rent of $400 per month plus utilities was charged. Holiday told the authority the recession resulted in the Lockwoods notifying the authority by letter in June that they were going to have to shut down the deli.

“They didn’t ask for anything,” he said. “They just said they couldn’t afford to keep it open…None of us want to lose a tenant out here…Once that space is empty, no one else will move in to fill it.”

At the request of several airport tenants, Holiday said he and Nocera “came up with an idea to try to salvage the business until the economy recovers.” The result was what Nocera described as a “concept offering” which would allow the deli to pay an amount equal to 150-percent of the sales tax generated as the rent amount each month, with a $100 minimum and $400 maximum per month. The ”un-official agreement” between the airport authority and the Spitfire Deli would be on a month to month basis, cancelable by either party with 60 days notice and a seven day “right of first refusal” to match a competitive offer.

Sometime between the time the new agreement was discussed and the authority meeting, Nocera generated another version of the agreement which involved $150 per month minimum rent and offered only 72 hours right of first refusal, Holiday told the authority. Nocera said his version was based on “talking to several board members about it – Johnny (Wendel), Jimmy (Moore) and Quin (Born)” who, he said, “all wanted the $150 minimum…and a few other changes.”

After presenting the matter to the authority, Holiday made a motion to enter into the original “un-official agreement,” involving the $100 minimum per month rent and seven day right of refusal “since that’s what we all talked about and agreed to initially.” Johnie Wendell seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

BANNER TOWING
A long-standing policy not to allow gliders, glider towing, hot air balloons, sky diving, ultra light aircraft and banner towing at the airport was also discussed, as authority chairman Frank Nocera stated he was unaware of such a policy when he gave permission for a banner towing plane to use the airport on Saturday 18th.

Holiday then told the authority in the 13 years he’s “been on the authority, serving under three different administrations” the authority has voted not to allow “gliders, sky divers, hot air ballooning, ultra lights or banner towing at least a dozen times.”

“In the past, it’s been turned down because of safety and liability reasons,” he said. ”The taxpayers spent $4 million to make this a business class airport and we will lose that if we allow those kinds of activities.”

On the morning of Saturday, September 18, Holiday said, “my phone started ringing (because) there was a banner being towed and the authority didn’t authorize it…I move to prohibit those kinds of activities.”

Nocera said he was unaware of past votes prohibiting such activities and said that, “according to his understanding of federal law, any federally licensed aircraft can do any activity they want at an airport that gets federal funds…All they need is an N number and a commercial ticket.”

Miller seconded Holiday’s motion in order “to discuss it more,” adding that it was his understanding that airports receiving federal funds were allowed to set minimum standards and have operations guidelines – especially when it came down to safety.

When asked, Stell told the authority the guidelines against non-motorized aircraft and banner towing did already exist because they were adopted in the past.

Authority members then asked for clarification from Aviation Program Manager Phil Eberly, of WK Dickson, who serves as the airport’s FAA approved and mandated consultant. (FAA.grant assurances dictate that any public use airport receiving federal grant funds hire such a consultant.) Eberly told the authority individual public use airports can and do have minimum standards and operating guidelines to control specific activities, with airport safety being a major factor.

Nocera persisted in telling the board he didn’t believe the airport could restrict activities without risking losing federal funds, which is why he gave permission for the banner towing. Miller pointed out the airport had “a great customer in the National Guard and we certainly don’t want to create any safety or operations problems for them,” which several authority members agreed non-powered flight and/or banner towing would do.

Because Holiday’s motion was already on the table, the authority then voted to prohibit non-powered flight and glider and banner towing, even though Eberly and Stell had stated the restriction was already on the books. Jimmy Moore cast the sole dissenting vote.

In other business:

•Nocera commended Wanda Mitchell, office manager, and Eddie Edwards, operations coordinator for “working hard to come in under budget” for the current fiscal year. Nocera said “for the first time ever” the authority achieved a balanced budget last year.

•Nocera appointed Holiday, Miller, Johnie Wendel and himself to a committee to consider the budget for FY 2011.

•Spitfire Deli co-owner Ian Lockwood told the authority a sheriff’s report had been made in response to the apparent “keyed entry” into the deli sometime between closing time on September 18 and the morning of September 20. He said there was no evidence of forced entry and the only thing missing was “some money from the tip jar.”

•Authority members authorized changing the deli locks.

•The Authority went into a 50 minute closed meeting for the purpose of “pending litigation.” No action was taken as a result of that meeting.

Mr Nocera is right. No legal aircraft can be denied access to an airport that receives Federal funds. There are books that have been written on this and attorneys that specialize in going after these airports that deny access. Unless Winder Airport wants to loose it's federal funding I suggest Mr Holliday follow the rules. The FAA will be glad to explain them to him if he needs it.

So let me get this straight. I have a Quicksilver that I keep at a ultralight field in another county. But do I understand that I would be denied access to Winder Airport if I wanted to fly in and out of there? If so, I would like to get that in writing. We will see what the FAA has to say about it.

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